Thursday, December 2, 2010

Peppery Pumpkin Butter

Good morning Jammers, hope you all slept well. It has finally gotten cold here and there is a chance for our first inland freeze. Our house is out near the beach and we should stay warmer, but our friends well inland may need to cover their winter plants tonight. Brrrr! I’ve got on my fuzzy, aloe infused, woobie socks to keep my tootsies warm and an extra blanket on the back of my office chair to snuggle under. Come to think of it, I need to bring in the electric throw to plug in for the night so I can stay toasty. I hope you are all staying warm and cozy.

Two of the recipes that we did on our group Jammin day were pumpkin varieties, per the request of some of the ladies. Now, I did warn them all of the recommendations for proper handling and canning of pumpkin. We used the canned pumpkin again and I told them all to keep it refrigerated, even the sealed jars. I honestly don’t think any of the jars of it lasted more than a week or two! I had one report that a friend shared a jar of the Peppery Pumpkin Butter with her neighbor and the feedback was something along the lines of “it’s the best we’ve ever had and would love to invest in a company to manufacture it”. The neighbor and her husband apparently ate the whole jar in one sitting. I could not think of a better compliment!

The first of the two recipes used that day was the basic pumpkin butter that I had previously posted. Look at the archives if you are interested in that one, just be aware and research the data out there on food borne illnesses and canning pumpkin. I recommend using canned pumpkin (which has already been heat processed by a commercial canning method) and keeping it stored in the fridge. The new recipe I came up with is based on the ancho apple butter that I made. Someone had requested adding ancho pepper to the pumpkin butter, so, that was our second batch that day in the pumpkin category. We were drawing on the thankfulness aspect of working with the pumpkin recipes that day and the pepper just added a bit of punch to the power of the pumpkin. Refer to the previous pumpkin post, if you want, for the associations of the spices in the butter. I am calling this one Peppery Pumpkin Butter and I hope you enjoy it as much as everyone else did.

﻿Preheat canner and prepare jars and lids. In an 8qt pan combine the pumpkin and spices, stirring until smooth and well blended. Gradually stir in both sugars and the butter. Over medium-low heat, heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until the sugars are dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a full rolling boil, still stirring constantly. Stir in contents of pectin pouch and return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring all-the-while.

Remove pan from heat and quickly skim off any foam (mine did not have any) from the top. Ladle the butter into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth and add the lids and rings, turning the rings until just finger-tight. Place the jars in the preheated canner and bring canner to a full rolling boil. Process jars for 10 minutes (adjusting according to your altitude, if necessary) then remove canner from heat. Let canner sit for 5 minutes, then, carefully remove hot jars from water with a jar lifter and place them on a towel on the counter and leave them undisturbed until the seals have popped and the jars are cooled. Store them in the refrigerator and use within 4 months.

Makes about 7 half pint jars.

Again, I did not have any pictures from the pumpkin recipes that day, so sorry. The best I could give you is maybe a picture of an empty jar because that is all that is left!

Remember when I mentioned the small kitchen fire from that morning? Watch for the next post and I will share what my “non-canning” friends taught me about my equipment and they showed me how my equipment SHOULD be used to keep it from breaking! (I have 2 broken jar lifters in my posession right now and one of them was brand new that morning) We had so many laughs that day…life is not fun unless you know how to laugh at yourself, trust me!

Welcome

Come on over and sit by my hearth, the heart of my home. Here I take pride in nurishing those I love and sharing my knowledge and bounty. This is my main blog project but you can find my secondary page, for all other recipes and non-jam related tips at http://frommyhearthtoyourhearth.blogspot.com/

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My Amazon Store for Canning Books and Supplies

Here is a link to the canning books and supplies that I HIGHLY recommend. Lots of these books have been my inspirations for the receipes you see here and where I have learned all my tips and techniques.
http://astore.amazon.com/jamfrothehea-20

About Me

I share my hearth with my beautiful and inspiring soulmate, my pre-teen son, 7 feline kids, a bearded dragon, a sugar glider and a green cheeked conure. Nurturing is in my soul, thanks in part to my grandmother (aka MaBert) and her mother, my Grannie, who canned everything they could get their hands on...I intend to keep the tradition going. We are a family of tree huggers and dirt worshippers who love to spend as much time as possible on the beach having fun and romping in the waves. I weave my personal magick into everything I create in my kitchen...it's my passion!